Marshals will seize one-time drug house

The husband is serving 37 months at a federal prison in Pennsylvania.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
POLAND -- The one-time drug house at 1919 Peachtree Court has been forfeited to the U.S. Marshals Service, which will seize it next month to sell it.
The owners -- H. Ronald Wilson and Karen Wilson -- agreed to the forfeiture when they pleaded guilty in federal court in an OxyContin distribution case.
Last month, the husband began serving 37 months at the Federal Correctional Institution in Loretto, Pa. He was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possession of the powerful painkiller.
House to be vacated
Karen Wilson pleaded guilty to managing or controlling a place for the purpose of storing or distributing OxyContin and will be sentenced Oct. 27 in Cleveland federal court. She faces six to 16 months in prison, with the possibility of probation if sentenced in the lower range.
Under the terms of her plea agreement, the two-story house must be vacated by Oct. 3. Any personal property left behind may be disposed of by the marshals service, which will then sell the house.
The marshals service will need approval from U.S. District Judge Ann Aldrich to sell the house for less than $160,000. Mahoning County records show that it was purchased for $147,000 in October 1999.
Once the house is sold, proceeds will be used to pay expenses incurred in preserving the property, any costs associated with the sale, taxes and the mortgage. Court papers don't say how much is owed on the house.
After all disbursements, the marshals service and Karen Wilson will split what's left, 50-50.
Indictments issued
The Wilsons were indicted in August 2004, along with Timothy J. Mosley of East Leasure Avenue, New Castle. Mosley is a former Mohawk High School physical education teacher, according to Vindicator files.
In October 2004, Mosley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession of OxyContin. In December 2004, Judge Aldrich sentenced Mosley to 21/2 years in prison, followed by three years' supervised release. He must participate in a 500-hour intensive drug treatment program while in prison. Mosley is incarcerated in Morgantown, W.Va.
Mosley was arrested in August 2004 in Pennsylvania after a drug transaction at the Wilsons' home that included an undercover police source who was wearing a wire. The source had $4,000 in drug-buy money marked by the New Castle police narcotics unit.
When Mosley returned to Pennsylvania, police used a search warrant to enter his vehicle and then arrested him. Officers found 153 OxyContin pills with a street value of $6,120.
Mosley admitted that he and Ronald Wilson, described as unemployed or on disability, had been distributing OxyContin for three or four years.
Mosley said Wilson's wife frequently counted the money.
Ronald Wilson obtained prescriptions for the drug from a doctor, filled them through mail-order pharmacies and sold them to Mosley, who then sold them to others, the government said.
Drugs, money seized
After Mosley's arrest, members of the Drug Enforcement Administration Youngstown task force used a search warrant to enter the Wilsons' residence at 1919 Peachtree Court. Agents seized 2,365 OxyContin pills and $3,810 of the marked money.
Karen Wilson acknowledged to police that Mosley bought pills from her husband and sometimes resold them. She said her husband hadn't worked in a long time and her annual income was $12,000, the government said.
"You had to pay for the house and two new cars and this is how you did it?" a DEA agent asked about the drug profits. The agent said she answered, "Right."
The case was prosecuted by Virginia D. Hearey and James L. Morford, assistant U.S. attorneys.
The Wilsons also forfeited to the government $58,038 in a savings account in Karen Wilson's name and $3,896 in a checking account in the Wilsons' name.
The government said the money represents the proceeds of drug trafficking activities or money to be used to buy drugs.
Complaint in 2000
Court papers show that the Wilsons attracted attention as far back as March 2000, when one of their neighbors contacted law enforcement, believing steroids were being sold out of the house. The neighbor frequently saw young men stopping at the Wilsons' for a few minutes and then leaving.
meade@vindy.com